Anything but the Rain
by Persoryme
Summary: Rain was always an omen. A sign of tragedy and bad luck. But the gray clouds finally parted, and he shined so brightly, so beautifully, and for the first time I saw the sun.
1. Deluge

**I. Deluge**

* * *

I hated the rain.

Rain was always a bad omen. A sign that something terrible would soon happen with its arrival. Of course, how bad the thing was depended on the type of rain. A light drizzle meant a slight inconvenience. A downpour meant tears and heartbreak were to be expected. A storm— a storm meant death. Always.

Rain had its own smell, like everything else. I could tell it was coming when the scent of the air would shift and become heavy, musty, dreadfully unpleasant. When rain was to be expected, I'd always have to pull the collar of my shirt over my nose and run for cover. The first drop of rain was always the most merciful. At the very least, I had a bit of time to prepare between it and the last drop. Because when the last drop fell and the gray clouds split in half, what emerged from behind them was not the sun, but instead a terrible fate. Whoever it struck, no one would know until it did.

Unfortunately, it seemed I was the most recent victim of fate's cruel schemes. When I woke up, my skin was littered with goosebumps, hairs rising on their ends as I shivered desperately yet felt like I was on fire. My head was pounding, as if someone had bashed a hammer right into it. The skin on my nose felt raw after I had rubbed so many napkins against it while sneezing. My lungs wheezed as coughs wracked my entire body.

Needless to say, I was sick.

It was, of course, a light drizzle that fell the night before. I sat up trying my best to ignore the _tapping_ against my window, a melody that irritated my ears and made my nose itch. I was upset, but not very surprised when I woke up in this condition. If this were any other day, I wouldn't hesitate to curl under my blankets and wait for this sickness to pass. But, coincidentally or not, it was my first day of school— my first day at Yūei High School.

Yūei is a school that boasted the ranking of the number one hero school in all of Japan. It's a highly admired and prestigious institution that graduated some of the finest heroes we have today. There were hundreds of students who applied each year, and only a minuscule and rather disheartening amount were allowed to step through its doors. My acceptance into Yūei was a means for celebration— not that I had anyone to celebrate with, but at the time I didn't really care. I was far too elated to worry about things like that. Now, though, a small part of me wished I didn't have to be alone when I found out about my enrollment. Just like how I wished I wasn't alone to fight off this sickness.

 _So is life, I suppose._

* * *

I gently pulled on my face mask as I let out another cough. Yūei loomed before me almost threateningly, as if it were challenging me to step inside. I took in a deep breath— as much as my phlegm filled lungs would allow— and I tottered through the entrance doors.

Yūei's halls were as long and grand as one would imagine. It was as if they spanned endlessly— corners were not meant to be rounded as they didn't exist between one end and the other. This, however, could have just been the sickness talking. I couldn't quite tell.

In what felt like an instant, I found myself standing in front of the massive door the held my classroom behind it, '1-A' painted on it in bright red lettering. I blinked once at it as I slowly processed that this was, in fact, my classroom, and once my brain put together the fact that _yes, this is really my classroom,_ I placed my hand in the grip and slid it open. To my surprise, the door was rather light, and didn't require much effort on my end as it slammed against the door frame.

My weary eyes scanned the entirety of the classroom. I saw all seats had been occupied except for one, and then it slowly dawned on me that class had started, and I was incredibly late. _Oh_. My ears burned hot in embarrassment and I hastily shuffled over to the desk that undoubtedly belonged to me. As I took my seat, I felt a fierce glare that dug into my skin and threw me into another coughing fit. My eyes flickered upwards for just a moment. The man at the front of the room blinked his gaze away and just let out a deep sigh, mumbling something under his breath that my ears couldn't pick up on.

"My name is Aizawa Shota, and I'll be your homeroom teacher," he introduced. He produced a square of blue and white fabric, and held it over his head for all of us to see. "There should be one of these at each desk. This is a bit sudden, but change into these and meet me outside in the field. And _don't_ be late."

Our teacher didn't bother stick around for a moment longer as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and strode out of the classroom. I was quick to notice the irate look on his face as he left.

There were a few situations my mind conjured up that would have been more ideal that what was currently happening. The first, and most favored one, was that I would explode into stardust and become a part of the universe, no longer having to distress about things like sickness and bad impressions. The second was that this was just a dream— a fever dream, perhaps. In just a few moments, I would wake up in my bed in a pool of my own sweat, surrounded by thick blankets. I considered pinching myself to waken myself, but I knew I wasn't masochistic nor gullible, two traits that forced me to ignore the idea that this was just an embarrassing nightmare, and accept the reality that it wasn't.

 _So is life_ , a voice droned. Disgruntled, I had nothing to say against that.

* * *

They say if you peer into one's eyes, you will see the truth of their soul.

They also say one apple per day keeps doctors away.

Whoever 'they' are, they often say a lot of things, many of which aren't necessarily true, but are spoken simply because the one thing people love more than money is talking.

I was born with eyes reminiscent of a hurricane. Dark gray in shade, with pupils that, anomalously, were rectangular in shape, and rather tragically accompanied with dark circles that told people how little sleep I received each night, and told myself how much I needed it. Sleeping, however, was rarely an option. Like the rain, dreams were omens— portents of bad luck. My life was already filled to the brim with that. I hardly needed more.

I've been told that my stormy eyes coupled with my brown skin surrounded me in an air of mystery and peculiarity— as if being unique meant anything in today's society. I was nothing more than another girl, but for some reason people refused to see that as a good thing. In a society where eighty percent of the world population have been blessed with superhuman powers known as Quirks, the idea of distinctiveness has been reduced to mean nothing short of normal. I think now, people were desperate to reclaim that word, and what it meant to be 'unique'. Different. I personally didn't care either way.

In the midst of my poor health, I was unable to fully process what _change into these uniforms_ and _meet me in the field_ meant until I did both of things. And now, rather regretfully, I stood in a sea of nineteen other people, all of whom were more than ready to proceed with the physical activities we would, without a doubt, be doing. And I— with my aching muscles and foggy mind— struggled to even keep my eyes open as the temptations of illness drew me into exhaustion. _Dreams are omens_ , I screamed in my head. Like a mantra, I kept repeating it as a careful reminder of why I wasn't going to give in to sleep.

"We're doing a Quirk Apprehension Test," Aizawa deadpanned. I sighed, which quickly proved to be a terrible decision, as I released another series of coughs that, to my chagrin, drew dozens of eyes towards me. Now, more than ever, I wanted to disappear. Or run away. Or explode into billions of tiny little specks of dust and become one with the universe. I just didn't want to be _here_.

"Are you okay?" a voice rang out. A boy with red eyes and spiky hair of the same color emerged from between a few others and stepped towards me. I gave a single, firm nod, and readjusted my face mask before turning away.

"This will just be like any other fitness exam you've taken, except you're to use your Quirks," Aizawa continued, thankfully not singling out my illness that served as an ample distraction. "You'll be taking eight tests in total. Oh, and whoever places last will be expelled."

Aizawa delivered the statement so unceremoniously, I almost allowed myself to accept his words. But then, I took an extra moment to process what _last place_ and _expelled_ in the same sentence meant, and panic quickly begin to bubble up within me. This sickness was a hindrance to my overall performance, forcing me to exert extra effort just to _live_ , and now I would have to double up on the effort that I barely had in the first place. I considered giving up. It was for just an instant, but I thought of going right up to Aizawa and asking him to expel me right on the spot, because if I wanted to do anything physically taxing while I was ill, I might as well just drop to the ground and become a part of the earth.

That, however, would be far too morbid to say. Even for me.

So instead, I tried to replace these dreadful thoughts with something slightly more genial. I thought about why I was here at Yūei— why I decided to haul myself out of bed in spite of my poor health, why I thought missing the first day of school was absolutely not an option, and why I wanted to come to Yūei at all. _It's all obvious, isn't it?_

* * *

A fifty meter dash was among the first of tests we were to perform. We would be called up and use our Quirks to cross the track in as little time as possible. Already, I found myself at a glaring disadvantage. One clocked in at three seconds with the engines in his calves. Another at five seconds by thrusting a laser beam from his stomach to get past the finish line. A third tapped her clothes and made it in seven.

One of my classmates walked up to the start line. Todoroki was his name apparently. It was his desk that was beside my own. There was undeniable confidence in his gait, though his expression remained calm and indifferent. As soon as he was given the cue, he held his right hand behind him and a thin layer of rime encased his fingertips. The next thing I felt was a frigid breeze that reminded my body of my illness and threw my lungs into another attempt to get rid of whatever was within them. As I calmed down from my coughing fit, my skin became riddled with goosebumps from the cold but my ears burned hot, so much so that I had to push my black strands behind them and hope the wind would cool them down.

"Six seconds," Aizawa announced. Todoroki didn't react to the time. Rather, he turned around and placed his left hand on the ramp of ice he created. As I watched him, I tried my best not to linger on the burn scar that covered the left of his face. I tore my eyes away and hoped no one— especially him— noticed.

"Karada."

I tried not to flinch at the sound of my family name. It sounded so distorted, even when repeated by my inner voice, like it was a word that didn't even exist. I inched towards the starting line. A small puddle of lukewarm water had gathered at my feet from Todoroki's ice, now melted. _Use your Quirk_.

I hesitated. But I knew I had no other choice.

I closed my eyes. In the darkness of my shut eyelids I could only see two red orbs, glowing brightly and maliciously. No, _no. Think of something else_. I forced my mind to shift my thoughts to something different while also trying to erase that image.

When I opened my eyes my entire body was bogged down with the weight of exhaustion. It crawled through my skin and entered my veins. Though I felt like I was on the verge of collapsing, I tried to keep my footing stable and my stance unwavering. In front of me, a scooter had appeared. It was bright pink, covered in stickers of rainbows and sparkles. It looked as if taken straight out of a six year old girl's dreams.

Embarrassingly so, it was taken from mine.

"Go."

I gripped the handlebars and took off. The wind clawed its fingers through my hair, cold still lingering from Todoroki's ice earlier. I was slightly irked this uniform didn't have a long sleeved variant; I was soon plagued with the concerns of the frigidity only worsening my illness.

When I crossed the finish line, I hopped off the scooter and watched it dissipate into smoke, vanishing from this existence and entering the confinements of my headspace. I cleared my throat of the viscous fluid that was building within it and returned to my classmates, whose eyes all remained on me, whether because I was an outlier with my sick self, or because of the showcasing of my Quirk.

My Quirk— I could make my dreams a reality. To most who heard this, they would gape with wide, gleaming eyes, as if my Quirk had some sort of metaphorical meaning behind it, like it was deeply profound and dipped in the gold of hope. I was praised and uplifted for an ability that only brought anguish.

Because my dreams could come to life, and I was constantly tormented by nightmares.

On the worst of nights I remained awake, afraid of what I'd see in the back of my head if I dared to fall asleep. I'd be even more afraid of waking up and finding whatever I dreamt about alive, existing, _breathing,_ and knowing _I_ was the one who gave it life. I was the one who brought it into this world— and I found, oftentimes, taking it out was so much harder.

"5.04 seconds," Aizawa revealed. I just let out another cough in response. "You're sick—" His darkened gaze flickered towards me. "Go to the nurse and get some medicine."

I shook my head in defiance, a few black strands clinging to my skin damp from sweat.

"I'm fine," my muffled voice rasped, forcing me to clear my throat again. "I can keep going."

Aizawa's eyes narrowed. My body trembled not from his gaze, but from a sudden coldness that afflicted me. It seemed, though, that I was the only one who felt it.

"It makes no sense to continue on if you're on the verge of passing out," he said. I exhaled a hot breath.

"I'm not…" I started. My knees were trembling and my vision was blurry and I felt like I was on fire and dipped in ice at the same time— I was a mess, my body was falling apart, and this was my chance to get a much needed break. Part of me wanted to yield and go to the nurse as Aizawa said, but another part of me wanted to continue on, to push myself past my limit and prove that in spite of my incapacitation, I could still go on. But then, carefully, I thought, _who am I proving this to?_

 _Aizawa_ , I told myself. The threat of expulsion still loomed over my head. But, if he was allowing me to go to the nurse, then that meant he was either going to let me finish this test at a later date, or he wasn't going to expel anyone at all. If it were truly that crucial, he would've allowed me to continue on, and then perhaps send me to the nurse afterwards. This thought eased me a bit.

 _To my classmates,_ I thought next. But these were people I barely knew. I had no reason to try to impress them. We were all on the same journey, heading to the same destination. Why would I have to prove to them I'm worthy? I made it into Yūei, and we were all in the same class— I asked myself, was that not proof enough?

 _You know the truth,_ I whispered to myself. Of course I did. I was trying to impress no one other than myself. I was trying to tell myself that I wasn't a hindrance despite my condition. That I could keep pushing myself forward even when I shouldn't, even when I _couldn't_. I wanted to validate this with Yūei's motto— _Plus Ultra_ — a saying that rallied and inspired all who heard it. But going beyond was not an option if my body couldn't handle it.

"Okay," I finally conceded as I held back a cough. "I'll go."

"Todoroki, take her there. Come back as soon as she's in Recovery Girl's hands," Aizawa said. Red and white trotted towards me, and I narrowed my eyes, trying to focus my gaze on my classmate. As he came into my vicinity I felt a chill, but also, rather surprisingly, warmth. A part of me blamed these fluctuating sensations on the delirium caused by illness, but he came closer, and temperatures intensified, and then I knew it was him— just him.

Without either of us uttering so much as a single word, I was led back into the school, though my steps remained slow and heavy, much like how my body felt. I felt like time had decelerated to an almost painful crawl, or perhaps it was just me. At this point, I could no longer tell. I let out another loud sneeze, one that seized my body and forced me to stop in my tracks so I could take a moment to recover. Todoroki turned around to face me, his mismatched eyes staring right into my own.

"You okay?" he asked. I nodded and slipped my mask down. I wiped my nose with my sleeve— cringing I had to do that at all— and I fitted the mask back over my face before speeding up to match my pace with Todoroki's.

"You… have a mole," he muttered. He traced his thumb directly underneath his lip.

"Beauty mark," I corrected, my tone now nasal due to my backed up sinuses. "I have two."

One was located under my eye, and the other near my lip, situated on the left. I held no complex feelings toward them— no deep disdain, nor any immense pride. They were just there, and a part of my face. No matter how I felt about them, they wouldn't go away. I figured I might as well have no feeling towards them at all.

Todoroki didn't say anything to me after that, but he would occasionally flitter his eyes towards me. I assumed he was just making sure I hadn't collapsed yet. Yūei's halls felt infinite and never ending, and it was making my head spin. I wondered if he even knew where the nurse's office was located.

"Do you know where we are?" I questioned with coughs caught between my breath. Todoroki stopped and jerked his head in the direction of a door.

"Here," he responded. _Oh._ He stepped forward and entered the office, where a small elderly woman sat at a desk in the far end of the room. She turned to us as we entered and, upon seeing me, quickly stood up and scurried towards us.

"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed. "You look so sick!"

I coughed. "Flu."

"On your first day? That's unfortunate."

I had to hold back the urge to roll my eyes and say _tell me about it_.

"I'll take care of her," Recovery Girl said, although moreso speaking to Todoroki, who nodded. "You can return to your class."

Todoroki inclined his head and promptly left. I was led to one of the beds in the room, where I sat down and watched Recovery Girl rummage through a few drawers, before she went over to me and placed two pills in my hand. She fetched a plastic cup and filled it at a water fountain sitting in the corner of the room and handed it to me. I voiced a quiet thank you as I downed the pills with little effort. A thermometer was placed underneath my tongue and I watched the numbers rise slowly, until the sound of short, repetitive beeping entered my ears.

"Oh, my— thirty eight degrees…" Recovery Girl hummed. "Why did you come to school?"

"First day," I responded. "I didn't want to miss it."

"I suppose that's fair. You should still be getting as much rest as possible!"

"Sorry…" I mumbled.

"Just take care of yourself," she tapped her cane against the floor. "Rest here for a bit. When you feel a bit better, I'll send you back to class."

I just bobbed my head and laid back on the bed. The last thing I wanted now was to sleep. I was scared of dreaming— _creating_ something that I wouldn't be able to get rid of. I was scared of what the nightmares would bring to me this time. But I knew all too well that my body needed it. Even if my mind tried to power through it, my body just couldn't keep up. So, rather reluctantly, I closed my eyes and hoped for the best.

* * *

There were some scents that were immediate indicators of something bad.

Rain, for example. It made the air smell stale. Lifeless. It left a taste of copper in my mouth. Jasmine was another scent. Pleasant, yet incredibly tragic. Jasmine smelled the same as a broken heart. Not that broken hearts were pleasant. They had a sweet scent, but also carried a sort of sourness behind it. The smell of a broken heart was rather easy to dislike. There was one particular scent, though, that I hated more than anything.

The smell of dogs. They never smelled very appealing at all. Even the well washed, decent ones always carried an odor that made me want to melt into a puddle. I didn't particularly fear dogs, nor did I dislike them. But they were always harbingers of disaster.

When I woke up and smelled a mixture of dried blood and bitterness, the same smell dogs carried, my heart nearly stopped. My nose hairs felt like they were burning. I yanked on my face mask and pinched my nose, and I looked around, my eyes examining everywhere for the source of that smell. I looked under the bed; behind the curtain; in the cabinets and drawers; anywhere and everywhere that could've given any indication for where the scent came from.

In the end, I found nothing.

I figured, rather than dwell on it, it would be best to just go back to class and hope my own anxiety was altering my perception of smell. Recovery Girl was no longer in her office, so I exited the office and made my way to the locker rooms to change.

I still had a bit of a cough and experienced chills, but for the most part, the medicine did its job. After changing into my uniform, I made my way back to the classroom. For some reason, I was dreading whatever was awaiting me on the other side of the door. Perhaps the smell of despair still lingered in my nose and on my mind. Perhaps, naturally, I was expecting the worst to happen.

I slid open the door and my muscles tensed apprehensively as all eyes turned to me. I brushed some strands out of my face and stepped into the room. Aizawa no longer stood at the front. Instead, he had been replaced with a man sporting large, blond hair, eyes obscured behind a pair of triangular shaped glasses. I immediately recognized him as the Pro Hero Present Mic, who was also a rather popular radio host. The smile that he so often carried on his expressive face was instead a frown, and he placed his hands on his hips.

"You're late!" he exclaimed. My eyes shifted to him.

"Sorry," I coughed out. "I was at the nurse."

I sniffed, desperate to rid my nose of the smell that sat idle in my system, and I trudged to my seat, plopping down. I glanced at Todoroki and leaned over slightly.

"Thanks for taking me to the nurse," I murmured. He looked at me for a few moments before turning back to the front of the room.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Going home was hardly my most awaited part of the day.

As a matter of fact, I would say it was my least favorite part. If I had a choice to avoid it entirely, I would a hundred times over, without hesitation. My home smelled like a storm, always. The smell of heavy rain remained on my clothes, seeped into the pores in my skin and familiarized itself with each thread of my hair. There was also a bitter fragrance. Like that of raw mint, except not nearly as pleasing to take a whiff of. My home had the strong, unmistakable scent of death. But I was the only one who seemed to know this.

When I stepped inside I was greeted with darkness, light only peeking through closed curtains and windows. I was the only one home, but this was something I had grown accustomed to. I took off my shoes at the door and stepped further inside. My mask remained fastened across my face, but then I was hit with _that_ aroma, and I almost gagged.

I walked over the hardwood floors, each board creaking as my weight pressed against it. I stopped when I reached the kitchen. My eyes drifted to the end of the hall, and that's when my gaze landed on it— on _them._

A girl and her dog.

Even in the darkness, I could make out their perfect outline. The girl stood at my height, her eyes glowing bright and red, her clothes blending with the shade she hid in, but spots of sanguine dotted her being. It was the dog, though— that _damn dog_ — that made me want to drive my foot right into its throat.

It shuffled towards me with its paws making a distinct _slapping_ sound with each step it took. But that was just due to the fact it didn't have paws at all. It had hands, human hands, with a docked tail and crimson eyes that glowed in the dark and mocked me. Its jet black fur was mangy and matted, and this creature stopped before me and tilted its head as if expecting something from me.

"You're just a nightmare," I uttered as I moved into the kitchen. "You're just a nightmare."

I flicked on the light.

" _Yume?"_

She never comes out in the light.

I looked back and saw her standing in the safety of the hallway with that dog sitting by her feet. The darkness was her comfort. The light was mine.

"Please go," I pleaded. My heart was being ripped and torn asunder. "Please stop doing this to me."

She continued to stare at me, her eyes not blinking even once. I remained quiet and turned my back to her.

"Okay."

The bitterness went away, but the scent of the storm remained.

* * *

 **a/n**

todoroki x oc stories are apparently my kryptonite but that isn't going to stop me from trying to write one :^) i have hopes for this though

yume is a character i've had for a while but i was never sure if i wanted to write about her until now. i hope you guys enjoy her story!


	2. Tacenda

**II. Tacenda**

* * *

The world stopped spinning the moment twins Yume and Amaya Karada were born.

It stormed that night. Our mother screamed and wailed above the deafening thunder that split the sky in half and shook the earth below. Strands of her black hair clung to her skin, filled with wrinkles and lines as she contorted her face with each contraction. She gripped our father's hand so tightly it cut off his blood circulation, forcing him to do nothing but endure it as his beloved wife thought, in this moment, she would die. Whether from the sheer pain or the amount of blood she lost, surely, she thought, this would be the end.

Fortunately for everyone involved, it wasn't.

I've been told when I took in my first gulp of air, I shrieked. I screamed louder than my mother ever did during labor. My cries silenced the thunder itself. The doctors were forced to slam their hands over their ears. I bawled and screeched as a rather hopeful, if not irritating sign that I was truly alive and healthy. My sister, however, was the complete opposite.

While I bellowed and showcased the power of my lungs, my sister remained quiet, eyes squeezed shut as if she were still in the womb. My mother was terrified. My father could ignore the pain his hand experienced. The doctors anxiously took her and held her, but the moment they stepped away from my mother, my sister let out the quietest of whimpers, and everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. She was alive, after all.

My sister and I looked almost exactly alike. We both had silky black hair and skin the same shade as milk chocolate. Our eyes sported the same peculiar rectangular pupil. We even had the same beauty marks on the same places. What distinguished us from each other, though, were our eyes. My own, dark and stormy like the night of our birth. My sister's, dazzling and red like a blazing fire. It was considered a blessing our eyes could tell us apart.

That, and our Quirks.

It was obvious from a young age what my Quirk was. My parents were ecstatic when I woke one day and the things I dreamt of from the night before— bright, pink clouds— appeared the next morning, floating like cotton candy right above us. It was a perfect mixture of their Quirks. It was everything they had hoped for. They prayed the same thing would happen to my sister, but as luck would have it, her Quirk was no such thing. Hers, rather underwhelmingly, was the ability to read thoughts.

My father's ability to turn psychic energy into physical constructs, coupled with my mother's ability to cast powerful illusions, should've meant their children would be born with something just as grand, if not more. So why, they wondered, did poor Amaya have to get stuck with a Quirk that made her about as useful as someone without one? Mind reading— _what good could a hero do with that?_

Despite their intense disappointment, they decided to just go along with it. My sister and I would be considered the product of a Quirk marriage— a union formed with the intent of bearing the perfect offspring. Two positives make another positive. Though, in my family's case, two positives made one positive and one negative.

My sister was a black sheep.

No one ever wanted to admit it. No one ever wanted to explicitly tell the girl why her sister was given all the attention, showered in praise and compliments, while she was cast to the side, left alone with the shadows. No one was willing to tell her that her parents considered her a failure, a mistake on their end. No one noticed how the girl eventually melted into the darkness that she was so often left in, becoming nothing more than a passing thought, a presence that was seldom acknowledged or even felt and so often forgotten about. No one knew.

No one, except for me.

But I wasn't enough. Even though I tried desperately to tell my sister that she was certainly worth something, that her Quirk wasn't as useless as everyone thought, and that she had so much potential, to hear that from the one who was treated as her superior only made her feel worse. My sister spent night after night sobbing and asking the god who cursed her why she had to live with such a fate, why her own blood despised her so deeply, and why she was born if she was just going to be cast aside as if she were a stain on humanity itself. She never received an answer.

The storm that occurred on the night of our births almost perfectly mimicked the one that occurred on the night my sister decided to do the world a favor. The next day, with a light drizzle still gracing the face of the earth, my sister told me the two things she loves most— the rain, and me. I didn't understand what she meant or why she said those things at the time. Nor did I realize that taking a moment to look up at the gray clouds above would be my worst decision, and her best instant. When I looked back down, she smiled at me, those bright eyes of hers gleaming as if the stars would never shine again. They didn't.

Amaya Karada took her own life, greeting the morning train with open arms and a smile on her face.

She was fourteen.

* * *

I woke up rather abruptly, my body struggling to adjust to the soft linens of my bed. My muscles ached and my heart pounded against my ribcage. The first thing I did before anything was check for signs of rain. I pulled at the curtains and opened my windows, and took in a deep whiff of the air to search for any trace of that smell I despised so deeply. I didn't taste any copper nor did I smell any rain, so for now, I thought, I would be safe.

With the dangers of bad luck now lurking in the back of my head, I began to wonder when I walked to my bed and fell asleep. I couldn't recall anything past the girl and her dog; her crimson eyes digging holes of regret deep into me, and that dog panting like the wild beast it is. My nose seemed to remember fondly the potent smell they carried. I simply tried to forget they even appeared— the same thing I always did when my mind decided I hadn't suffered enough and subconsciously brought them into reality.

In spite of my early morning brooding, I felt much better from the day before. There was still a bit of a cough, but Recovery Girl's medicine and a bit of sleep seemed to do my body good. If I had known I would go to school just the spend most of the day in the nurse's office, I wouldn't have gone at all. _Bad luck, bad decisions._

My morning was quickly engrossed with the thought of my vacant home, the only thing occupying its dusty corners and bare walls being the shadows that I felt followed me everywhere. They were there to greet me if I ever looked too close. They were hidden in cracks and crevices and, somehow, in the irises of my classmates.

I was one of the first students to arrive this time around, with only two others sitting in their respective seats— a girl with silky black hair tied into a ponytail, and a boy with glasses who had his nose buried deep inside a rather thick novel. I strode to my seat and sat down, dropping my bag at my feet. Out of my peripheral, the girl looked up, an urbane smile coming to her lips as her entire face seemed to light up.

"Good morning," she greeted.

"Good morning," I returned in a quiet voice.

"Are you feeling better from yesterday?" she questioned, her brows upturning and creasing together in concern. "You were sick, correct?"

I inclined my head.

"It was the flu," I said.

"Well, it's a relief you're feeling better." She held out her hand. "My name is Yaoyorozu Momo. Yours?"

My gaze traveled to her stretched out fingers, the contortion of her lips and rising of her cheeks unfaltering. Her head sloped slightly to the side, a gesture that told me she was expecting some sort of response back. Slowly, and a bit reluctantly, I took her hand within my own, our fingers wrapping around each other's palms, for just a moment before separating. Her onyx eyes glimmered brightly. I found it difficult to match her enthusiasm.

"Karada Yume," I answered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Momo hummed.

"You… as well."

I felt this sense of self betrayal. I could tell by the bright glint in Momo's eyes, the lift in her smile, and her sunny tone that she had some intention of being friends. At the very least, she wanted to establish some sort of familiarity with me. Why, I couldn't exactly figure out. I wasn't considered very approachable, and while I didn't consider myself to be very _mean_ , I usually wasn't the first person people went to if they wanted to be friends.

Then again, there was only one other student in the room, and he seemed far more invested in his book than either of us.

Perhaps poor Momo just didn't have much of a choice.

The classroom slowly began to fill up over time as more of my classmates entered, taking their respective seats. Some, I noticed, would glance at me for a moment before turning away. I took in a deep breath. The red haired boy from yesterday stepped into the room, his eyes shifting as if looking for something. As soon as they landed on me, he showed me a toothy grin and waved with a quick flick of his wrist. I simply bowed my head to him. Walking in right after was the boy with the mismatched hair. His name was among the many others that slipped from my mind.

The monotonous ringing of the school bell signaled the official beginning of class. On the tone it ended, the classroom door slid open, and Aizawa trudged inside, hands buried deep within his pockets. He lacked the sleeping bag from yesterday, carrying only himself and an apathetic expression.

"Today, we'll be doing something different," he announced matter-of-factly. I scrunched up my nose as if it caught a wicked scent. All I smelled, though, was cinnamon. A rather muted, yet incredibly striking smell that typically didn't mean anything. But with my life being how it is, and I being the person I am, subconsciously, I began to prepare for the worst.

 _Expect the unexpected._

* * *

Of all the things I _did_ expect, between the world suddenly exploding and Aizawa telling me that I actually had been expelled, All Might marching into our room and announcing the commencement of combat training was certainly not one of them. Realistically though, it should have, and I felt silly that it wasn't. But the universe was equal parts fickle and cruel, so perhaps it wasn't so outlandish to anticipate those things, either. In the end, neither of those events occurred, but we were told to change into our hero costumes and to meet in a training facility known as Ground Beta.

Hero costumes were, as the name implied, uniforms that Pro Heroes wore on duty. Some were intricate in design, like the boy in glasses who emerged with a suit of armor, and others much more simple, like the girl with long earlobes who simply wore black pants, a salmon shirt, and a black jacket. And then there was mine.

I didn't put much thought into my costume as my Quirk did its job regardless of the fabric I wore. Silk, cotton, denim, it didn't quite matter. Wool, however, was rather unpleasant to the touch. My outfit was a purple sleeveless bodysuit with black elbow length gloves and a short black jacket. A pale blue visor covered my eyes, and I opted to wear a pair of thigh high boots. A belt sat around my waist, a pouch with a small notebook attached to it. This book was my dream journal— a collection of everything, vile or not, that my mind has conjured up while I slept.

Ground Beta was a near perfect replica of Tokyo. We stood near the entrance, with All Might's almost overwhelming presence capturing our attention before and more than anything else.

"Allow me to explain how this works! You'll be separated into pairs of heroes and villains!" All Might stated. "Villains will be given a weapon, and the heroes must either capture the weapon or capture the villains! The opposite remains true— villains must protect their weapon or capture the heroes before time runs out. Understand?"

My classmates gave firm nods of confirmation. Afterwards, All Might held up a box for all of us to see.

"Pairs will be chosen based on drawn lots!"

I noticed drawn breaths and looks of apprehension amongst the others. The idea of a pair with non-combative Quirks going up against those with more offense oriented Quirks was one of the many worries I could imagine my classmates having. That, and being paired with someone troublesome. Cooperation was just as important as the ability to fight with Quirks, if not more. There was no point in teamwork if the team couldn't work, no matter how powerful the Quirk is.

My personal concerns were more deeply seeded than having to fight with a stranger, against strangers. The biggest source of my anxiety with this was seeing that dog— or something worse— and having to explain away something like that. The issue was that I couldn't, at least, not easily. My revelations of my dreams could easily make my classmates begin to assume the worst about me, and that, for one reason or another, scared me more than anything else.

"Excuse me!"

My gaze traveled to my right, where a bouncy girl with chestnut brown hair and similarly shaded eyes stood before me, her rosy cheeks reddening as she flashed a large grin at me.

"Are you on Team A?" she inquired.

"No," I responded. "I haven't even drawn a letter as of yet."

"Oh!" she squeaked. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. "Okay, sorry!" She smiled again. "Well, my name's Uraraka Ochako, but you can call me Ochako!"

I was rather surprised at the nonchalance she carried upon greeting me, but I was even more shocked when she said I could call her by her first name. I suppose in the end it wasn't _that_ big a deal, and she seemed friendly enough that something like that didn't matter much to her. I felt my throat tighten.

"Er… my name is Karada Yume," I barely managed to cough out.

"You have a pretty name!" she gasped. I blinked at her, my own mind questioning the validity of this girl, if someone this peppy and scented vaguely like bubblegum could even exist.

"T-Thanks…" I stammered awkwardly. "Oh— I should draw a lot."

Ochako bobbed her head with zest and I puttered over to the box. All Might jabbed his fists into his hips and looked down at me, white teeth gleaming ardently. I cleared my throat of any nervousness and reached into the box, my fingers brushing over a piece of paper. I plucked it out and looked it over, the letter _I_ gracing my vision. I didn't quite know what this meant— if maybe I'd be paired with someone who I'd have trouble cooperating with, or who'd have trouble cooperating with _me_ ; or if my partner was going to be someone with a Quirk not quite suited for fighting; or if it meant this entire thing would be the end of me as I knew it. I only knew it meant I'd be on Team I. And I suppose for now, that would be enough.

* * *

I couldn't tell if this was a good match up or not.

Being on Team I put me on the same team as the heterochromatic boy, whose name I remembered was Todoroki Shoto. It also meant we were to play the role of heroes. And our opponents were Momo and Tenya Iida, the boy covered in armor. I had only seen a small preview of their Quirks yesterday. The engines on Iida's legs allowed him to run at astonishing speeds, while Momo could create things from her skin.

Our Quirks were rather similar on that basis. I wasn't sure if she could create living, organic beings like I could, but this was soon to be figured out. The villains were given fifteen minutes to prepare, while we were given the same amount of time to figure out how to fight back against said villains. The rest of the class had gone back into the main building to monitor our battle— All Might said if things were to get out of hand, he would step in. I could only pray it wouldn't.

Todoroki and I stood outside the building this battle was going to occur in, a comfortable distance away from each other, because this pairing was as awkward as it was ironic. Todoroki didn't come off as the perverse type to me, for which I was thankful for, but he certainly appeared as someone who enjoyed his solitude, because I was the same way. I knew a loner when I saw one, and it's this trait that made our pairing rather tricky.

"What… should we do?" I finally spoke after about five minutes of silence.

"I'll freeze the building and prevent their escape," Todoroki answered without looking at me. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Okay."

The conversation ended at that.

And then it started again.

"W-Wait…" I shook my head. Todoroki turned to me, the fluttering of his eyes indicating that he perhaps wasn't expecting me to talk at all.

"We should… be more careful," I muttered. "Yaoyorozu can probably create something to melt the ice before we arrive."

"Yaoyorozu?" he asked.

"The girl," I clarified. "We shouldn't go in there recklessly."

"What do you think we should do, then?"

There was a hidden tone within his voice, buried underneath the calmness he spoke with. I couldn't say it was anger. But it sounded like he was challenging me to come up with a better idea, rather than genuinely asking for my input. Needless to say, I didn't exactly have a _better_ idea. Just an idea.

"Dogs."

The word alone made me want to fade into nothingness. As soon as the breath escaped my lungs I thought of that vile creature and felt my hands tremble. Todoroki arched a brow, lips slightly parted in confusion.

"... _Dogs?"_ he parroted doubtfully. I forced a gulp down my tightened throat. I snatched my book from out of its pouch and flipped through it. Crude sketches were scribbled all over the pages, most of them drawn in a half asleep stupor as I had just woken from a nightmare. I cringed slightly at the cryptic things my mind created— tall, thin creatures with arms that dragged past their bodies, giant cats with razor sharp fangs and drool trickling from their lips, people with bulging eyes and inhumane proportions— nightmares, all of them that I had seen at least once in my dreams and again when I had woken up.

And then there were dogs.

I was lucky to find a page of dogs that at least looked a _little_ normal. Normal dog paws with normal dog ears. The only thing is that their bodies were rather muscular, and their tails curved like scythes. The fur was black and their eyes were concentric circles of various colors, but they looked _normal_ , and for now that was all I needed. Once the image of these specific creatures became etched into my memory, I slammed the book shut and closed my eyes. I imagined them— the spiky, disheveled fur, blacker than any darkness, their elongated, narrow eyes, their paws that boasted sharp claws dipped in red. The image became more and more clear in my mind, and when I opened my eyes, there they were. Two of them, standing proudly before Todoroki and I, massive in stature, reaching up to my shoulder.

I flickered my gaze towards him and saw his indifferent expression now contorted, brows furrowed and frown setting in. I tried to ignore the bitter scent that entered my nostrils and wracked my brain. Instead, I just focused on the task at hand. I reached forward and placed a hand between the dogs' ears, their fur surprisingly soft, but also felt uncannily like human hair.

"Are they yours?" Todoroki asked.

"My dreams," I corrected. "Technically mine, I suppose."

"That's your Quirk."

I nodded. "My dreams become reality."

"... Including the bad ones?" he asked. Begrudgingly, my lips twitched.

" _Especially_ the bad ones."

The radio in our ears buzzed with static until All Might's voice entered our eardrums. As if the dogs knew, their tails wagged wildly and they let out deep, guttural growls from their thick throats.

"The battle between the heroes, Todoroki Shoto and Karada Yume, versus the villains, Tenya Iida and Yaoyorozu Momo, begins now!" he proclaimed. I whistled and with that, the creatures my mind created burst through the entrance door. Todoroki and I followed behind them, keeping our distance, but making sure we were close enough to keep track of them. The halls we crept through were narrow and compact, which I deduced would be an issue for Iida and Todoroki to use their Quirks as freely as they usually could. The only light we had came in from the windows lining the walls that overlooked the rest of the fake city.

The dogs bounded ahead, their heavy breaths piercing the silence we would have otherwise been walking in. Their heads bobbed up and down as they sniffed the ground, then pointed their noses back into the air for any trace of our opponents. One of the dogs seized in their movements and whipped around, alarm signals immediately going off within my head. My own apprehension with turning around came from the fear that if I did, I would see the girl or her dog hiding in the shadows, as they always did, and I wouldn't be able to handle it.

"What?" Todoroki sounded, pivoting on his heel. Before I could force myself to do the same, one of the dogs lunged forward, teeth bared and muscles constricted as it passed by my and leapt forward. At the same time, from around the corner we passed, a small cylinder rolled out into the hallway. I narrowed my eyes at it, the dog jumping onto it and snarling harshly.

"Wait—!" Todoroki exclaimed. He stomped his foot on the ground, sending glaciers towards the cylinder just as it exploded, releasing a cloud of thick purple fog. The dogs howled and clawed at the ice, growls and barks caught between their throats.

"They're probably gonna come around," Todoroki muttered.

"If they're here, then the weapon must be close," I said. "They wouldn't come so far out just to stop us."

Todoroki nodded. The dogs howled once more and lumbered ahead, with the both of us following a few feet behind. We passed by an adjacent hallway and all I had to do was shift my gaze before my heart nearly stopped. Crimson eyes. I saw her. She stared straight into me, through me. Never blinking, never moving.

I wish I could tell her how sorry I was.

"Karada!"

Todoroki's voice snapped me back into reality. When I looked at him and then back into the shadows of the hallway, she was gone. _Keep going._

I had to. I had to.

* * *

We reached the end of the hall and the dogs turned a corner before one was immediately thrown into the wall with such force it caused a crack, and it dissipated into black smoke. The other got into an attack position, but was quickly given the same treatment. Iida stood before us, standing rather menacingly, eyes glaring right at us from underneath his helmet.

"Well, heroes? What will you do?" he asked, voice reverberating from underneath his suit. This encounter told me a few things.

Considering Iida was the only one to confront us, I figured that meant Momo was in charge of guarding the weapon, which could have meant one of two things: either Momo isn't well suited for close combat, which is why Iida, who is much faster and physically stronger, is the one who came to us, or their plan wasn't to necessarily stop us, but to prevent us from getting to the weapon. Iida's weapon was his speed, and he would easily be able to keep us at bay if we weren't able to keep up. And I already knew I wasn't.

Todoroki had a chance, surely, but the narrow hallways were his biggest inhibitors. This, however, also rang true for Iida. His maneuverability would be significantly reduced which would make him easier to get caught in Todoroki's ice.

"Todoroki—" My fingers brushed against my journal. "I'm gonna go ahead."

"Alright," he responded, rime pooling in his palm. "I'll back you up."

"I won't allow you to get through!" Iida shouted. Without warning, he rushed forward. Todoroki held out his hand with ice careening towards Iida. He jumped up and delivered a swift kick to the ice, smashing it to pieces, and used the momentum to push himself towards us. I snatched my journal and flipped it open to a random page, ignoring the possibility of landing on something horrifying, and just focusing on the need to get through.

I closed my eyes.

* * *

When I had my first nightmare, I was six years old. I remember the dream rather vividly. I was in a desolate land. The sky was gone and had been replaced with a fiery red scape. I was surrounded by emptiness and a blurry sun. My feet sank in the scorching sand beneath me. There was nothing, no one. I was completely alone.

And then I saw it.

In the far off distance that didn't seem so far away, I saw a creature. A thing. Its thunderous footsteps pounded in my ears despite the fact it was nowhere near close to me. It was nothing but a silhouette, but I could see it clearly. It was like a skeleton with skin plastered directly over it. Its limbs were unnaturally long, head hung low as it dragged itself across the barren lands. I could sense its sadness. I could see the waves of grief and despondency washing off of it and for the first time I made a connection.

When I opened my eyes, there it was. Its massive figure was barely able to be contained in the confines of the building. Its curved spine pushed against the ceiling and its arms reached the end of the hallway. It made no sound, but its teeth clacked against each other. Iida and Todoroki gaped wide eyed at it, mouths hanging open in shock. My body was trembling and my heart was racing and I thought I was going to die, truly. A sharp bitter aroma entered my nose, leaving a taste of metal on my tongue, a feeling that the world was going to end.

Despite this, I ran.

* * *

 **a/n**

if you look up zdzislaw beksinski i think that'd serve as a good ref for the things yume dreams about :^)


	3. Obnubilate

**III. Obnubilate**

* * *

When I had my first nightmare, the first thing I did was scream.

The gargantuan skeleton had manifested outside of my home, and its single empty eye socket peered into my window and directly at me. It knew what I was, but the opposite was not held true. My parents rushed into my room and, already understanding what my Quirk did, attacked the creature to rid of it. Ten minutes later, and it was finally gone. I was a terrified six year old, because up until that moment I had never realized the mind could create something so dastardly. I had hoped that would be just a one time occurrence.

It wasn't.

A few months had passed and I was struck with yet another nightmare. This time, I dreamt I was devoured my monstrous cats. When I woke up, an entire pack of them stood in my room, surrounding my sister and I, fangs bared and fur standing on edge. That night, I had learned what fear was. My sister and I shrieked and like before, our parents rushed into our room and had to kill the creatures before they killed us. They disappeared in a puff of smoke and I sat in my mother's lap for the next half hour sobbing over such a horrifying experience. After that, they only got worse.

What started off as occasional nightmares every few months turned into events that happened every three or four weeks. Then, every two weeks, before going down to one, and then every other day. My mind kept creating horrifying monsters that would always appear before me, and my parents began to lose sleep over the fact I would scream for them and they'd have to destroy these creations. It became exhausting for them, for my sister, and for me. I was taken to a doctor by the time I was nine, because it was starting to become too much.

I was told I'd grow out of them. _Just give it time,_ the doctors said. My parents were skeptical and urged for something more than just a few passing words. They gave me sleeping pills, which only made my parents fret even more, but what other choice did we have? They were supposed to put me into a deep sleep while also preventing any sort of dream— good or bad— from manifesting.

My parents found out a few nights later the power of my Quirk. I couldn't recall any dreams during this period, but the things plaguing my subconscious manifested. There were creatures with distorted limbs and faces, serpents with multiple heads, dogs with two heads and razor sharp teeth. The things I manifested were even stronger and more horrifying than the ones before. It was eventually decided that my mind was a lost cause. There was nothing that could be done for me.

I thought about this as I ran past Iida in a moment of desperation. The creature I created slammed its arm between him and I, the sudden movement from something so large shaking the building and throwing me off my feet. I didn't let this stop me, though. I scrambled up as quickly as I could and raced down the hall. _I need something._

I grabbed my journal and flipped through the pages as the sound of Todoroki's ice, Iida's engine, and the creature's bones rattling all entered my ears and sent my mind into a frenzy. I shifted my gaze between the pages and what was in front of me. _Something. Anything._

When I looked up, I stopped in my tracks, nearly stumbling over before I could crash into what it was I created this time. It was a bird— standing tall on one leg, with wings that dragged past its body like a cloak, and a thick, elongated neck. I gulped nervously. The bird screeched at me, forcing me to take a step back out of instinct. It glared at me, its dark, soulless eyes meeting with my own, and then it straightened itself. I hadn't even realized I was holding my breath until I exhaled and my lungs felt like that were finally free from being squeezed. I continued down the hall, and when I reached the end, I was met with two other halls.

"Go to the left," I said to the bird. It spread its massive wings and did what I asked it to. I ran down to the right, greeted by a single door. I approached it as slowly as I could, and when I reached it, I pressed my ear against the door. I heard nothing, so I opened the door, but as soon as I did, something looped around my ankle and I yelped as I was raised into the air upside down.

"Thank goodness that worked!"

As I swung slightly from side to side, I stretched my neck and looked down, seeing Momo's form looking up at me, a rather proud smile on her face. The blood rushing to my head coupled with the swinging made it hard for me to focus on her. I shook my head and tried to look up to see the trap I had been caught in. _I should've known better._

Momo hurried over to close the door and lock it, then looked back up at me. The weapon was on the other side of the room, just out of reach. I had to find a way to get down, but the blood rushing to my head was making it increasingly difficult to focus.

"I'll leave you up there for a while. If Iida-san can stall Todoroki-san for long enough, then we'll win!" Momo said. _So that was their plan after all_. I tried lifted my upper body up to undo the trap, but not only was the thread incredibly thin and thus, the knot would be too small to untie, but I could barely even reach my ankle at all. I was stuck.

A loud, yet muffled screech echoed through the walls and I sighed deeply in relief. For the first time, I was _glad_ to have manifested one of my nightmares. I had forgotten I sent it away. There was a loud thud at the door, causing Momo to take a few careful steps back. She ran her fingers of her arm and manifested a long, metal staff, and held it in front of her, hands trembling. Another thud, and then another, followed by a screech.

With one final strike, the door burst off its hinges, and the bird flew into the room with its pitch wings spread wide to the ceiling. Momo's jaw dropped open, her eyes widened, and she held her staff in front of her as the bird swooped down and knocked her to her feet.

"No!" I shouted. The bird landed in front of her, but then twisted its neck towards me. It flew up and snapped the thread with its talon. I yelped as I fell to the ground, but my ankle was quickly caught by its foot, and it lowered me gently to the ground. I wobbled in my footing, having spent all that time upside down. My vision was still blurry, but I looked up and saw Momo getting to her feet.

The building shook again. A few pieces of debris fell from the ceiling and I looked worriedly at Momo, who shared the same glance.

"What's going on out there?" she asked.

"I'm not sure…" I uttered. I had an urge to run back and make sure everything was okay, but I had a task at hand. Iida and Todoroki were capable in their own rights, and I had to trust them— even if one was supposed to be my opponent. I turned back to Momo, who tightly clutched her staff. Her uneasy eyes flickered back and forth between the bird and I.

"Go."

The bird flew forward. I noticed a split second of hesitation in Momo, but she bent backwards just as the bird's wings flew over her, and when whipped around, plunging her staff into it. I winced as the bird released a harsh cry of pain, its neck pulsating with the inhuman call, and it dissipated into smoke. I gulped.

"Now then, what will you do?"

I took a deep breath and manifested the same dogs from before. They came from behind me, growling menacingly. If I could distract Momo and run towards the weapon, then maybe I could win this match. The dogs lunged forward, howling loudly, and I ran close behind them. One jumped into the air with its teeth aimed down at Momo. She jumped back and jabbed the staff into its throat, destroying it. She ducked underneath the other one as it tried to attack her, and ran towards me. Before I could move out of her way, Momo tackled me and the both of us tumbled to the ground.

Her knee dug into my abdomen and she used one hand to hold my wrists above my head, totally restricting my movement. My shifted my gaze and noticed the second dog crawling slowly towards me. It snarled as it ran forward, and Momo quickly turned around, a shield emerging from her arm. She held it in front of her to protect herself from the dog, and bashed into it before quickly grabbing her staff and striking it, effectively destroying it. I let out a small groan.

"Now then—" Momo panted. She fished out a roll of tape from her utility belt. I shifted around as much as I could to escape her grasp, but Momo had no intention of letting me go.

 _Give up._

The pessimistic side of me wanted to. For just a split second I considered admitting defeat. It wouldn't be worth it, I thought. I was at a loss. I was way in over my head. It wouldn't be worth it to continue on. If Todoroki and Iida were still fighting, then I could only hope Todoroki would emerge as the victor and somehow secure the weapon.

As much as the urge to forfeit was overwhelming me, whispering into my ear and clutching my being, I knew deep down I wasn't going to allow defeat to happen. I couldn't. Not without a fight. I pulled my wrists apart, and although she kept a tight grip, I knew she couldn't keep it up. I yanked my wrists apart one last time, forcing Momo to release her hand, and I quickly used this opportunity to grab her face and push her away. She gripped my arm with one hand and tried to use the other to force me back. _I'm sorry, but I can't let you have this._

For a third time, the dogs appeared, forcing Momo to make a choice— keep me restrained, or risk getting hurt by them. She knew as well as I did she had no other option. Just as the dogs sprang towards her, Momo stood up, allowing me to clamber to my feet. We stared each other down, the dogs appearing on either side of me. By now, Momo had an understanding of my Quirk, and she was graceful enough to dodge their attacks and then quickly take them out. I took a deep breath.

The dogs charged towards her and she was able to swiftly dodge them. In the same instant, I conjured up the one legged bird, and it raced to her. Momo gasped and avoided a direct attack from it by holding her staff in front of her. The bird gripped onto it and she yelped as she was lifted into the air, but she quickly released it and dropped to the ground before she got too high. She somersaulted and created another staff in a matter of a few moments.

 _She was distracted._ Between her trying to fight off the dogs and the bird, I used this as my opportunity to go for the weapon. I took a few steps to the side before bursting into a dash towards the weapon. I just needed to touch it. I held out my hand as I came closer and closer to it, when something suddenly wrapped around my ankles and threw me to the side. I let out a staggered shout as I fell to the ground, and when I looked at my ankles, I saw a cord with two weights attached to them had entangled themselves around my feet.

"Ouch…" I muttered as I pulled at the cord. I heard a loud whimper come from one of the dogs and I snapped my head up. Momo fell to a knee and leaned against her staff, panting heavily. Her body was covered in scrapes and cuts and she looked _exhausted_ , but she only took a few moments to catch her breath before standing right back up, this time, with a determined grin, her onyx eyes sparkling. Momo didn't flinch or falter. This was so familiar to me. Almost _too_ familiar, and it made me want to cry.

" _Why are you still fighting?"_

Amaya stood behind her.

" _Because I want to be a hero."_

For her. This was all for her. This was all to achieve the dream she couldn't. The dream that was ripped away from her so tragically. It's for this exact reason I refused to give up. I pulled at the cords again as Momo staggered towards me. The scent of sweat coupled with desperation wandered into my nose. It was sour, and almost made me gag, but it forced me to move faster and _win_.

After a final pull the cords came unloose, but before I could even stand, Momo knocked me back with her staff.

"I'm sorry, Karada-san," she said between breaths. "But I cannot let you win!"

I stared at her with wide eyes. "Yaoyorozu-san…" I muttered. I stood up and rushed towards her. I dodged a jab from her staff by ducking to the side, and I grabbed her collar. Momo yanked her shoulder away and slammed the staff into my side. I shouted in pain and stumbled back, but I refused to let this be the end— not when we were so close. Not when Amaya was watching.

I reached for her again, this time grabbing her wrist, and just as she swung her staff around I grabbed it with my other hand, the both of us in a sort of stalemate. Our teeth grinded together, sweat was dripping off the tips of our hair and down to our chin, and we were exhausted— but losing wasn't an option. I brought my knee up, but Momo dropped her staff and blocked my attack with her palm, and she grabbed my neck. I coughed and let out a loud hiss, her nails digging into my skin. _This isn't the end._

That bitter scent entered my nose. I grabbed Momo's arm and jerked her forward.

 _I'm sorry, Momo, but…_

I slammed my forehead into hers, the both of us voicing a loud, sharp cry of pain. Momo stumbled to the ground and, ignoring the excruciating throb in my head, I continued forward.

 _I'm carrying the dreams of someone too important to let down._

* * *

I found it both concerning and fascinating that all four of us had to be taken to the infirmary after our battle. Momo and I were bleeding and bruised. Todoroki suffered a case of mild hypothermia. Iida pulled a leg muscle and had a few bruises himself. All in all, our fight was much more intense than it needed to be, and I certainly didn't think I would end up _here_ afterwards. In the end, though, it was announced the hero team had won, and for now I could rest easy.

"I'm… sorry for headbutting you like that," I muttered as I looked over at Momo, who sat on a bed adjacent to me. She smiled and shook her head.

"No, it's quite alright. It was in the heat of the battle," she said.

"Right—" I rubbed my nose out of habit.

"Karada-san, your Quirk is very impressive!" Iida said. He looked down for a moment at the ice pack he held to his calf before turning back to me. "The creature you summoned eventually disappeared into smoke, but I'm amazed you could create it at all."

I chuckled at his word choice. _Summon_ was an interesting way to describe the creation of those creatures.

"Thanks," I mumbled quietly. My eyes flickered curiously towards Todoroki, who rested on the bed diagonal from mine, blankets wrapped around him and a cup of hot tea in his hands. We made eye contact for just a split second, and I tore my gaze away.

"Are those the types of things you dream about?" his voice asked, piercing like a spear. Suddenly, three pairs of eyes were on me. Without a doubt, my Quirk revealed to them— and the rest of my class— the kinds of dreams I had, or at least, the kinds of things my mind could create. I sighed quietly. Isolation seemed to be my future.

"Um… yeah," I said with a shrug. I didn't quite feel like sharing my life story, so I left it at that.

"Dreams?" Momo asked, fluttering her eyelashes. "Is _that_ what those were?"

I bit my lip.

"Yes."

Talking about my Quirk was never a comfortable or wanted experience. The memories associated with it oftentimes made it far too nerve wracking to even discuss, and that was without taking into account the looks and stares I would get upon discovery of what the creatures I created were. My gaze shifted downwards, unable to fully meet my classmates' out of shame and embarrassment.

"They're nightmares," I quietly said. The room suddenly smelled like citrus. Lemons and oranges and all things in between was another scent I disliked. It made my nose wither, because it reminded me of something lost, and like the many scents I hated so fervently, it reminded me of my sister.

"You can manifest your dreams into reality…?" Momo questioned. I slowly nodded.

"It's…" I sighed. Troublesome. Painful. Unwanted. I could've said any of those things and more, but ultimately, I decided against it. It wasn't worth the conversation and I was too tired to have one, anyway.

"This fight has shown me everything I need to work on," Iida mused. "I struggled greatly against Todoroki-san's ice, and that… being Karada-san created."

Momo nodded. "I was full of openings the entire time."

"You were good," I whispered. "I didn't expect you to be so aggressive."

"W-Well, I _did_ lose myself a bit in the end…!" Momo chuckled, her cheeks turning pink. I nodded. Admittedly, I did too. The infirmary door opened and I turned my head towards it. Recovery Girl stepped inside, releasing a small breath. Her cane tapped against the tile as she walked inside.

"Are you kids feeling better?" she asked as she dropped a candy bar on Todoroki's bed. "Here, have some treats. You all must take care of yourselves."  
When she reached me, she frowned slightly.

"Especially you," she said, handing me a bar of chocolate.

"No, thank you. I don't eat candy." I bowed my head in regret. "I apologize for giving you trouble."

"It's alright, dear. But as I said— take better care of yourself!"

The corners of my lips twitched. I could only reflect back on the days I was taken from doctor to doctor, and they would all tell me the exact same thing, as if I needed to be reminded of something like that. There was sincerity within Recovery Girl's tone, at least, but the words that flurried within my head and joggled my memories that I've been told so often, by so many people, left a dry taste in my mouth. Chalky, like I swallowed a slab of concrete and the pieces were stuck in my throat and in between my teeth. I clicked my tongue.

At least it wasn't copper.

* * *

My surname was one that evoked feelings of hope and feelings of despair.

Everyone knew of Ren and Haruka Karade, otherwise known as the Pro Heroes Hachiman and Maelstrom. They were ranked third and fifth in the nation, after all. They were powerful people with powerful Quirks, and because of that they were feared by villains and admired by the people of Japan. They were heroes, they were icons, they were symbols, but most of all, they were my parents.

My mother, Haruka, had the ability to cast powerful illusions that anyone could see. Because of this, my mother was the type of person to understand what got under people's skin. She was an analyst, and she was excellent at reading others. She used this to her advantage to create illusions that she knew would disorient and terrify her opponents. This attribute of hers— her ability to know exactly what made her enemies fall— is what made her as ruthless as she was graceful. I had her gray eyes, brown skin, and black hair. My mother blessed me with many things, except mercy.

My father was even more powerful than my mother, able to create physical constructs from pure psychic energy. He was something like an esper, although, more offense oriented, and his Quirk gave him much more variability in what he could do. He was a tall and imposing man, with crimson eyes and rectangular pupils. His hair was short and showing signs of graying, and he had a neatly trimmed beard that somehow made him even more intimidating that he already was.

Every time I came home to a full house, I was reminded of why the emptiness, despite my loathing for it, was the lesser of two evils. When I stepped inside and the shadows that constantly lingered were replaced with light spilling in for the kitchen, I felt a pain in my stomach and smelled citrus in the air. Citrus and rain— two of my most hated smells, all morphed into one. I wanted to disappear.

I entered the kitchen and, of course, my parents were there. My mother sat at the island with one leg crossed over the other, and my father stood across from her, a glass of wine in his hand. They turned to me at the same time and my blood ran cold.

"Hello, Yume," my mother greeted, her voice chilling.

"Hi…" I barely managed to say.

"How was your day?" my father asked.

"It was fine."

The conversations my parents and I carried were hardly that. To them, I was barely even a presence they could acknowledge. In the year since my sister's passing, our home has become darker. Bleaker. But that because of the smell of the rain that never went away, and it was because I was the only one who perceived it that way. To my parents, the loss of my sister was just that. A loss. Not a tragedy. Not a heartbreak. They figured she was a lost cause, anyway. They had another child after all, and even if I did not work out, they could just try again.

My parents, unfortunately, had no time or patience for mistakes. Likewise, they had no time or patience for Amaya.

Rather than spend any more time around them, I left the presence of my parents. I was surprised they were home at all, but I would be lying if I said I wanted them to be. The shadows of my home were much better than the shadows of my parents. I didn't have to feel bad if I was alone. I didn't have to feel stressed or overwhelmed. I didn't even have to feel— I could just be here, be _me_ , and not worry about anything other than the girl and her dog.

Of course, upon entering my room, the universe decided I hadn't suffered enough. The smell of death made me retch. I dropped my bag to the floor and turned around. The shadows were moving. With each twitch another bout of bitterness made my nose burn and from behind my door, the dog appeared, its human hands slapping against the floor, its split tongue hanging out of its mouth. I wish I could speak to it and tell it how much I hated it, and how I wish it would just _go away_ , but nothing in life ever happened as we wanted it to. No, that would make everything far too simple. I wondered if this dog was just another part of my sister.

She loved dogs, after all.

* * *

 **a/n  
**

hmm i sort of have mixed feelings about this chapter because i wasn't quite sure if it would be necessary to include a fight scene with iida and todoroki. in the end i decided it wasn't because i wanted the stars to be momo and yume in this mostly to establish their relationship starting forward :^) anyway uhhh idk what to say other than i wanted to write a more aggressive momo because she was never really shown fighting before the sports festival when she lost her confidence and uhhhh idk i just wanted aggressive momo LOL

anyway ty for reading :^)


	4. Achroous

**IV. Achroous**

* * *

"Get up, Yume."

My name sounded like some sort of foreign word. When held against my mother's tongue, it sounded like a curse. When caught between my father's teeth, it sounded like nothing at all. My name, when written out, meant 'dream' or 'vision', rather appropriately so. My surname, Karada, meant 'to be' or 'body'. To exist.

I grew up thinking I was here, yet not at the same time. I felt like my life was staged. It was nothing more than actors who represented the people in my life, surrounded by props and green screens with scripts and stage cues. We had no audience, yet we were putting on a show. This disconnection from my world and from myself made me feel like a puppet, at the best of times. Or perhaps a robot. Empty, shallow, with only a mild understanding of the defects known as emotions.

My life was exceptionally lonely. My life, gray.

 _It should've been me._

"I said get up."

My mother strode towards me in a powerful, confident gait. She was like a rose— beautiful to look at, but get too close and you would get hurt. Because of this, whenever she was around a sweet, spicy smell with a berry-like undertone would enter my nose. She smelled like the darkest rose. She smelled like a woman scorned. Hatred.

My fingers curled underneath me, droplets of dew clinging to my skin. Dew smelt the same as rain, with a hint of freshness to it. Dew meant I could expect bad luck. Nothing particularly tragic, but enough to make me wish I had chosen to stay in bed. I shifted my gaze where my father leaned against the door frame, remaining inside the house, hidden and protected by the door that led to our back porch. Behind him, staring with the exact same eyes, was _her._

"Yume."

I snapped my head back towards my mother. She crouched down in front of me and I flinched.

"If I have to repeat myself again, you will _not_ like what happens next."

My mother never made threats. Only promises. I sprang to my feet and wiped my damp hands on my clothes, dirty, torn, and disheveled. My mother rose to her full height in front of me, rose and citrus flowing off her like rivers and waterfalls. I looked into her stormy gray eyes and saw a tempest. I also saw myself.

"We're done for today," she proclaimed. The disappointment etched onto her face was hardly hidden. It was almost as overwhelming as her. Despite my sudden, powerful urge to cry, I kept my lips pulled together in a tight line as I watched my mother's back, until she faded into the shadows of our home and disappeared.

Almost immediately, I fell to my knees and rolled over onto my back, clutching the blades of grass, and I wondered why I, despite the sun shining, felt so cold. The scent of rain prickled my nose and made my blood feel like ice within my body. I closed my eyes. _I'm still not good enough._

 _Why are you still trying?_ a voice beside my ear and in my head groaned. Slowly, I opened my eyes.

Because my life is a hurricane, and I only knew how to chase the storm.

* * *

I wasn't the type of person who could say I had a lot of friends. My Quirk, whether everyone around me realized it or not, heavily isolated me from the world I lived in. I was scared. My mind was disturbing and my Quirk only exemplified this. As a young girl, there were times where the creatures I dreamt of would suddenly appear beside me in classrooms and in public, much like the girl and her dog now, because of my subconscious. Stares would be pinned on me. People would scream in horror and run away. No one knew what was wrong with me— not even myself— and it wasn't something I could control, and I didn't know what to do about it except let it happen and let the isolation engulf me.

 _I'm sorry for being a monster._

I was thirteen when I made my first real friend. A _friend_ — someone who didn't run away from me in spite of my Quirk. Between the harsh trainings my parents put my sister and I through, the cold words and sky high expectations, there was hardly any time for leisure. Knowing this and becoming tired of it, I decided to make my own time. I walked a few blocks away from my house, took in the city and sights of a world I lived in, but wasn't even aware of, and stumbled upon a coffee shop.

Even at a young age, coffee had become my favorite thing in the world. I loved the stinging bitterness of it, the sharp smell, even the color. A deep, dark brown. Most people hated coffee without some sort of sweetener. Even more hated it in general. But something couldn't be _that_ bad if it made someone happy, right? I think that is what I like about coffee the most. More than the acerbic relish or stinging aroma or aid in helping me stay up. Despite these qualities it still made someone happy to drink it.

I sat down at a booth by the window and ordered a cup of coffee. That day, the coffee shop was particularly busy with tired college students and working people on their breaks. There was a certain atmosphere that I had never experienced before. Happiness. Companionship. Warmth. It was different and it was immense, but for a moment, it brought color to my eyes.

"Can I sit here?"

At the same time the cup of coffee was placed in front of me, I looked up at a girl who stood at the table. I took note of the haphazard manner in which her bun was tied into, as well as the exhausted look in her dull, yet glimmering blue eyes. I nodded my hand and pulled the cup towards me. She groaned as she plopped in the seat across from me and rested her cheek against her hand.

"Coffee?" she asked with an arched brow. "Aren't you a little young?"

"I'm thirteen," I mumbled quietly and took a sip of the liquid. She blinked.

"So you're not _that_ young," she said. She shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever. I'm not your mom or anything."

I noticed her uniform— grey with green accents, with a green pleated skirt and red tie. Of course I recognized it. This uniform belonged to students of Yūei High School. I took in a deep breath. That was Amaya's dream school.

We sat in silence. I kept my gaze lowered as I continued to take small sips of coffee, while the girl across from me traced circles against the table with her finger. I appreciated the fact she didn't try to initiate a conversation with me, nor did she seem like she was in a rush to go anywhere. She was just here, in this warm, quaint coffee shop, and something about that made me happy. It made me feel like just existing was good enough.

"Yume!"

I whipped my head around when my name was shouted, and I saw _her_ — my sister— standing in the doorway. She grinned widely and bounded towards me, and practically pushed me out of the way to take a seat beside me. As soon as she sat down, she looked at the girl and her eyes widened in awe.

"Whoa!" Amaya squeaked. "Are you a Yūei student?! That's my dream school!"

"Oh, yeah. Guess I haven't introduced myself," she said and held out her hand. "Fujiwara Aoi, first year in Yūei's hero course."

"I'm Karada Amaya! And this is my sister, Yume!"

"Twins, huh?" Aoi chuckled. Amaya bobbed her head vigorously and began to excitedly chat about Aoi, what Yūei was like, and what to expect should she get in. Aoi was calm and patient. She told us despite it being the weekend, she was going back to school for some extra lessons. As we had found out, Aoi had the ability to manipulation emotions, but she was better at inducing negative feelings than anything else. Of course, this didn't make her a sad person. It's just what she could do.

At the time, I felt like the both of us could make a connection, but Amaya more than I. Aoi told us how her Quirk was seen as suited better for malice, but more than that, she's been told her Quirk was useless. I knew that was something Amaya resonated with. So seeing a student in Yūei, in the hero course nonetheless, made her crimson eyes sparkle like the brightest star in the darkest sky. Pure, unbridled happiness like that could not be feigned.

"Oh! Mom and dad want us back," Amaya eventually said and grabbed her hand. "We have to go, but it was nice meeting you, Aoi-chan!"

"You too," she chuckled. We waved to her as we exited the shop, and when we were just a block away from home, Amaya stopped and turned to me.

"Do you think I can be a hero, too?"

The question came as a surprise to me. I knew why she asked it— I even knew it was something she was going to question eventually. But I could hear the sadness in her voice. I could see the dimming of her eyes. I could feel every ounce of her self doubt and insecurity. Her dubiety and uncertainty— it was all there.

"Of course," I said. _Without a doubt._ "Anyone can."

"Even though my Quirk is—"

"It isn't useless."

She widened her eyes.

"It isn't useless, or pathetic, or any of the things mom and dad says it is." I took a step towards her and took her hand within my own. "It's yours, and that alone means it's amazing."

Amaya sniffed and wiped the tears beginning to form with the back of her hand.

"You think?"

"I'm always thinking," I murmured. Gently, I squeezed her hand. "But this time, I know."

She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace.

"You're so cool," she whispered. "Thank you, Yume. I don't know what I'd do without you."

I started visiting the coffee shop more frequently. Oftentimes, when I was there, Aoi was too, and we would sit in silence for a bit. A few words were exchanged, and a few words turned into small talk, which turned into full conversations. Within a couple of months, Aoi was the first person I had registered in my phone.

 _We were friends._

Even now, she was perhaps the only person I could comfortably confide in. I admired her for being someone I couldn't. She was strong. Reliable. After graduating from Yūei she went on to become a sidekick, and I saw her appear more frequently in newspapers and television. The Empathy Hero, Cerulean. I was proud to call her my friend.

"How's Yūei treating you?"

The coffee shop became something like our meeting spot. The spot we sat in by the booth close to the entrance held a special place in our hearts. By now, the employees knew my face, some even my name. I looked at the cup of coffee in front of me and sighed.

"It's fine," I muttered.

"Just fine?" Aoi raised a brow. I shrugged.

"It's good."

"You seem down." There was a twitch in her lips. I chuckled.

"I'm fine," I said.

"You're always just fine."

"Is that a bad thing?"

Aoi sighed quietly. "I guess not. But it'd make me happy if you said you were, I dunno, _great_ or _elated_ or—"

"Not sad?"

She nodded.

"I'm still trying to figure out how to get to that point," I admitted. "Until then, I'm just… here."

"It isn't easy, I know. Especially with everything that's happened," Aoi muttered. There was a twinge at my heart. "But I'm here for you."

"I know, Aoi. I appreciate it. Thank you for everything you've done for me."

"You're like my sister," she grinned.

"I feel the same about you."

Her grin faltered. Aoi's blue eyes scanned my being, and she leaned forward, brows furrowing.

"When's the last time you smiled, Yume?"

Smile. I recited that word over and over in my head. _Smile_. It sounded like a muddled mess, a sound with no deeper meaning. I couldn't remember when I last smiled. A lift in my lips, perhaps, but a _smile_? I haven't been given a reason to. It's been far too long.

"I dunno," I said eventually.

"You shouldn't be afraid of being happy, Yume," Aoi sighed. "Don't people smile then they're happy?"

"I guess…"

"You can't force it in the end. That'll just make you more miserable. But, you know, working as a sidekick and all… it's making me realize why I wanted to be a hero in the first place."

I looked at her.

"Sometimes the villain who attacks us isn't some crazy lunatic destroying everything in his path." She took in a deep breath. "Sometimes, it's ourselves. But if I can help people realize the good in this world and bring a smile to their face, even if it's just _one_ person, then I can say I've done a good job."

I nodded. "That's…"

"I've grown a lot at Yūei, and even now, I'm still growing," Aoi shrugged. "I'm only nineteen, after all. But you know what? You will too. And knowing that, Yume, makes me happy."

If Amaya were here, she would be wiping tears and praising Aoi for such a passionate speech. She would use that as motivation to do better and go beyond. But she wasn't here, and I wasn't Amaya, and because of that all I could do was nod and thank Aoi for her kind words.

* * *

"We'll be choosing a class representative."

Aizawa-sensei's announcement came with excited clamor as the class basically erupted to life. Over the past few days, I've come to learn my classmates' names. Kirishima raised his hand the highest, a wide, toothy grin on his face. Kaminari stood up beside him, waving his hand in the air. Even others like Jiro and Mina expressed their interest in the title. I just shrunk in my seat.

"Oh, dear…" Momo sounded. "Everyone is so eager to be class representative."

From beside me, Todoroki sighed.

"It's more of the title that they're interested in," he said. I couldn't argue against that. Aizawa's brow twitched and his eyes suddenly turned red, individual strands of his scarf coming undone and his hair rising into the air. With just a single glare, he was able to silence the entire class. I shuddered in intimidation.

"I don't care who is chosen, or how," he said. "As long as you figure it out before homeroom ends."

Iida suddenly rose to his feet, his abrupt movement making me jump a bit.

"I propose we cast a vote!" he exclaimed. "This way, the person with the most votes means they are most fit to handle such a task!"

"Wouldn't everyone just vote for themselves, though?" Mina pouted.

"Um… well, if someone isn't interested in the role, then... they'll just vote for who they think is the best person..." I said. As more and more eyes turned to me, I quieted my voice and sunk in my seat.

"Karada-san is right," Midoriya said. I gulped nervously. "I agree with Iida-kun's idea!"

"Me too!" Uraraka chirped.

"Like I said, I don't care how the class rep is chosen," Aizawa-sensei restated.

"Very well! If there are no discrepancies, we shall cast a vote!" Iida said. My immediate choice, without a doubt, was Momo. If there's anything her fight told us, it's that she was intelligent and resourceful. I don't know if we necessarily friends as much as we were classmates, but I trusted her, at the very least.

"Not interested?"

I turned my head and blinked when I saw Todoroki looking at me.

"N-No," I stammered and cleared my throat. "It's— It's not something I'm suited for." I brushed my hair out of my face. "Are you?"

"No," Todoroki responded bluntly. "For the same reason as you."

"I see."

Our 'ballots' were scraps of paper that I was asked to count, since I was one of the few who expressed disinterest in being class representative. As Mina expected, most people voted for themselves. However, there were two votes for Momo and three for Midoriya. I furrowed my brows.

"Um… Midoriya-san wins," I said. My words were almost immediately followed by a series of groans from most of my classmates.

"Who came in second?" Tsuyu asked, pressing her finger to her mouth.

"Yaoyorozu-san."

"Oh!" she clasped her hands together, eyes sparkling. "Wonderful!"

When I looked over at Midoriya, I took note of the quivering of his body and the murmurs under his breath. It was as if he was pondering how he got the most votes. I didn't know him at all, but I could tell Midoriya wasn't a bad person. Was he the best fit for a leadership role? Maybe, and that's why he was voted for in the first place.

"Who the fuck voted for Deku?!" Bakugo angrily shouted, slamming his hand against his desk, his gruff tone disrupting the atmosphere of the room. _Deku._ What an odd name.

"It doesn't matter," Aizawa-sensei said, glaring at Bakugo. "Midoriya will be class rep, with Momo acting as the deputy class rep."

"I'll be sure to do my absolute best!" Momo announced. "I won't let any of you down!"

"She's so cute…" Kaminari cooed. I sighed and glanced at Iida. He bit his lip and tightly clenched his fist, then took a deep breath. I couldn't say I understood whatever frustration he was feeling, because to me, the role of class representative was barely a role at all, if not slightly more than a title. But Iida was spirited, and it was obvious this would've meant a lot to him. I couldn't fault him for something like that.

"Um…" He turned to me. "I think you would've been a great class rep, too."

"Do you?"

I nodded. "I mean… you're frustrated. That alone shows how much you wanted it. And if that's the case, then… well, it only shows that maybe you deserve it, after all."

Iida chuckled. "Despite the fact I have not been chosen, I will continue to strive to be a pillar of support for my classmates." He smiled. "I appreciate your words, Karada-san. Thank you."

I saw the gratefulness in his eyes, a small sparkle.

"You're welcome."

* * *

The busyness brought about by lunch made my head spin. The first year students from all the departments were gathered in the same space. I didn't necessarily hate crowds, but my lack of social skills made lunchtime feel all the more lonely, even though I was surrounded by dozens of people like me.

I grabbed a bowl of katsudon and, with my hands nervously gripping the tray, I looked around. Most tables had already been occupied by people who formed their own friend groups, chatting excitedly and laughing amongst each other. I sighed.

I eventually spotted a table that was relatively empty, farther away from the other students, and I walked towards it, only to stop when I noticed a head of red and white. Todoroki kept his eyes on the bowl of food in front of him, and the last thing I wanted to do was bother him, but as it seemed there was nowhere else I could've comfortably sat. Reluctantly, I inched towards him.

"Can… Can I sit here…?" I asked. Todoroki looked up and nodded. As I took my seat, I was reminded of my first meeting with Aoi three years ago, and how it mimicked what was happening now. It was only a shame I didn't have a cup of coffee with me now. I sighed and took a bite of the pork, but of course, a sharp pain rang through my mouth and I hissed in pain as I dropped the meat and held my hand to my mouth.

"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked. I nodded.

"Bit my cheek—"

I tasted blood. It was metallic and strong, and made me grimace.

"If you need water—" Todoroki offered. I quickly shook my head.

"No, I'm okay." I looked at him. "Thanks, though."

He nodded. The silence that befell us was somehow deafening. Todoroki had already proven himself to be a loner like me, and because of that, conversation didn't come easy. I felt like there was more he wanted to say to me. In the way he flickered his eyes towards me and would occasionally lift his head up to look around, but his gaze would always fall on me for just an instant before he looked back down. Maybe he wanted to say something. Or maybe he wanted me to leave.

"I-If I'm bothering you…" I started, pulling my tray closer.

"You're not," Todoroki responded. I blinked.

"O-Oh. Okay."

More silence.

"... Your eyes," Todoroki muttered. "Are they—?"

"Yes," I responded. I wasn't even sure what he was going to ask, but I figured whatever question he had wasn't much different from the questions many other people had. "They're natural."

"That wasn't my question."

 _Good job, Yume._

"Sorry." My ears felt hot. "I get a lot of the same questions."

"Are they related to your Quirk?"

I shook my head. "No. This is just how they are. My dad… he passed it down to us."

"Us?"

"Um—" I froze. "I-I mean… m-my sister and I."

"You have a sister?"

I nodded. _I used to_.

"She's…" I took a deep, shaky breath at the thought of Amaya. "She's around." I sighed. "But, my eyes… that's just how they are."

"Like a goat."

"I guess," I shrugged. "A-Are they… creepy?"

"No. They're fine."

The corners of my lips twitched. I nodded and left it at that. I suppose conversations never had to have much thought put into them. They were just how they were, and I was grateful that Todoroki didn't try to force it. It happened how it happened, and that was enough for me. Before I could take another bite of my food, a shrill alarm blasted through the cafeteria, the cacophony the space silenced as we all looked around in confusion.

" _Attention, students. There has been a level three security breach. Please evacuate to the nearest exit. Attention, students_ —"

That was all that was needed for the cafeteria to erupt into chaos.

I gasped sharply as I jumped to my feet to avoid getting swallowed up by the mob of students who rushed past my seat. They all ran towards the same direction— the emergency exit down a short hall on the other side of the cafeteria. Dozens of panicked students all gathered in the same place, anxious bodies and nervous screams coming together and forming a jam. The exit being blocked was more dangerous than whatever threat the school was facing.

"Oh, no…" I groaned. I looked around, worried myself, but I couldn't let panic set in. _Think, Yume, think._

"Um—" I turned to Todoroki, who met my gaze. "L-Let's stay away from the crowd."

He nodded and strode over to one of the windows. I followed him and scanned the area outside. For the most part, all seemed well, but what caught my attention was a crowd that was similar to the one just a few feet away from me. They were forcing themselves through the entrance gates, microphones and cameras in their hands. By craning my neck just a bit further, I could just barely see Present Mic's blond hair and Aizawa-sensei's ragged scarf.

"... Media?" I uttered. With Yūei being the type of school it is, it wasn't uncommon for news reporters to want to get their word in and have an interview with one of the many Pro Heroes who taught here. As I thought about it, the Symbol of Peace himself, All Might, was also a teacher. Perhaps they wanted to see him more than anything else.

"What do we do?" I asked. I moved away from the windows and stood on my toes in an attempt to get a better view past the crowd of students, but my height wouldn't allow me to even see past most shoulders. I took a few more steps forward, but just as I did a student backed up in my direction. My lungs released a short breath of air. Warmth suddenly clutched my wrist and I was pulled back. I would've stumbled over myself and fallen over if a pair of hands didn't steady, and when I looked up, I saw Todoroki with his gaze on me. Again, my ears, as well as my cheeks, began to feel extraordinarily warm.

"Be careful," he muttered as he removed his hands. "No one is thinking straight right now."

"Except for you?"

Just as Todoroki opened his mouth to respond, a ruckus that was louder than anything else caught our attention, and we both looked ahead to see Iida almost literally fly through the air and land on top of the door frame, his legs trembling in an attempt to balance on it. My brows furrowed in confusion.

"Everyone, please calm down!" he shouted. His voice was more than enough to quiet the madness. "Everything is fine! This was just a false alarm! Please, look outside and notice the media!"

A sea of heads all turned to the windows. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief so strong I could smell each and every meal that was served. My nose scrunched up. With the chaos dying down, everyone, slowly but surely, began to walk away and return to their classrooms. I did the same, pivoting on my heel, with Todoroki matching my steps.

"By the way, Karada," he said. I turned to him as he looked at me. "I wasn't thinking straight, either."

"Mm… I wouldn't have guessed."

"Really?"

I nodded. "You're… kinda cool."

 _People smile when they're happy._

Todoroki's lips curled up.

* * *

Our return to the classroom was met with a series of cheers and praise, mostly from the boys, as Iida stepped inside.

"Emergency Exit Iida!" Uraraka suddenly exclaimed from beside me. My heart leapt out of my chest and I yelped at precipitous entrance, and she just grinned at me.

"Sorry, Karada-chan!" she said.

"I-It's okay…" I responded and lumbered to my seat, placing my hand over my chest to calm down my rampant heartbeat.

"Good job calming everyone down back there, Iida!" Kirishima said. Kaminari nodded.

"It wasn't very cool, but you got the job done!" he added. Iida rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thank you, but it was only right to do," he said. As soon as he spoke those words, Midoriya shot up from his seat, quivering nervously, and he turned to Iida.

"I-I would like to give up my role as class representative!" he announced, a few eyes going wide in shock. "Instead… I think Iida-kun should have it!"

"What?"

"It's obvious Iida-kun is more fit for the position than I am," Midoriya continued. As he spoke, his body stopped trembling, and there was a more confident look in his jade eyes. "It should've been him from the beginning. But that's why I would like to use this opportunity to give him the position."

I looked at Iida, who stared wide eyed at Midoriya, mouth gaping. But I think now, we all shared the same sentiments. It only seemed natural— it was as if Iida was born for the role. He stood up, kept his arms close to his body, and bowed.

"If that is what Midoriya-kun wishes, then I have no choice but to accept. I promise to be the best class representative!"

A few clapped for him. Others smiled. I sighed and leaned against my chair.

"Guess that's that," Todoroki muttered from my side. I looked at him and nodded.

"I guess so."

* * *

 **a/n**

aoi is based on a friend of mine who is probably reading this rn... love u

fun fact yume is 155 cm which is like 5'0 which means she only reaches up to todoroki's shoulder who is like 5'10 which means she actually does have to look up when she looks at him which means she's really fuckin short and he's really fuckin tall which means height difference couple which me


	5. Fuscous

**V. Fuscous  
**

* * *

 _Yume._

I woke up with a jolt. I remained in my bed for a moment, my eyes and nose scanning for any signs of tragedy. I saw nothing, and I smelled nothing. But I could feel there was so much more than just _nothing_. Slowly, I sat up, the first thing striking me being the fact everything was engulfed in a deep, grayish-blue tone. When I looked out the window, I saw nothing but an overcast sky, and the feeling of something being wrong only intensified.

I slipped out of my bed and touched my feet to the floor. The wood underneath my skin was uncharacteristically cold and made me flinch. I stepped carefully, quietly, to my room door, and when I opened it, everything beyond the border of my room was engulfed in black. There was no floor or ceiling. No walls. No beginning and no end. Only darkness.

And then a light flickered on. I gasped sharply and took a quick step back. The golden illumination pierced through the infinite dark, coming from the side, as if someone walked into a room and flipped the light switch. There were no shadows, but I felt a presence. Then, I heard humming.

I recognized the tune, but I couldn't quite pinpoint where I've heard it before. It was low and gentle, but it made a shiver run up my spine. I treaded steadily towards the light, but my hip suddenly bumped into something, and all I could hear was the sound of glass shattering. The humming stopped, and so did I. My heart began to race. I had a terrible feeling about this, but when I turned around to return to my room, the door was gone. I could only go towards the light, or nowhere at all.

The crooning continued and when I reached the light, I saw that I was now in my kitchen. Standing with their backs facing me were my parents. I sucked in a deep breath. They whirled around to face at a horrifying speed. Wide, toothy grins were plastered on their faces, but their expressions only made me wince. They rarely smiled, let alone so widely, and the fact their lips looked like they were pulled tightly together, as if fastened by something, made me all the more uncomfortable.

 _This is a nightmare._

I repeated this to myself. I squeezed my eyes shut. When I woke up, I would be in my room with everything as it should be. I'd get dressed, go to school, do whatever I had to do, and go home. I would, I would— I had to.

I opened my eyes. They were still there. My heart stopped.

"Yume," my mother spat out, the forced state of her mouth making it difficult for her to say my name. She strode over to me faster than I could even process, and she placed her hands on my shoulders. I recoiled.

"Come eat with us!" she said. I gulped. My breaths quickened. When my eyes shifted to the dinner table, I only saw three chairs.

"But there's no fo—"

"Come eat with us!"

She didn't give me a chance to respond. Her fingers tightly grasped my arms and despite the fact I tried to drag my feet across the floor to keep her from moving me, that only prolonged our walk to the table, and I was practically shoved in the chair.

"It's been so long," my father said, now sitting at the table despite the fact I didn't see him move. "We can finally eat!"

I tightly gripped the edge of my seat. The sweat building on my forehead felt like blocks of ice.

"As a family," my mother added and took her seat. Directly across from her was another chair that suddenly appeared. My breath tumbled within my throat.

"W-W-Who is the f-fourth chair for…?" I stammered. My voice was barely a whisper. I felt so small compared to them. I felt like my blood was solidifying within me and the air was being forced out of my body.

"You know who."

Their heads snapped towards me. I tried calming myself, but each breath I took felt like weights being added to my lungs.

"A… Am—"

They were suddenly beside me. I shrieked and threw myself out of the chair, falling to the ground. The air was leaving me faster than I could inhale. My breaths were escaping me. I could physically feel the fear grab me by my heart and engulf my being. My limbs felt like stone. _I couldn't breathe._

"Don't say her name."

 _I'm going to die._

I was trembling violently as their shadows loomed over me, as if threatening my very existence. I tried crawling out of the light and towards the darkness, because the shadows were my solace, but just when my fingers clawed at the strands of black something tugged on my ankle, and everything around me disappeared. I took in a deep, desperate gulp of air and suddenly I was in my room again, the muted hues reflecting in my eyes.

"Yume."

I blinked and red eyes were looking directly into mine. Rectangular. Pained.

"You look just like her."

My father's voice was so far away, yet directly in my ear, and I was just a moment away from losing my mind.

"You look just like Haruka."

Golden dripped from between his teeth. I couldn't move. His eyes kept staring at me, his face was contorted in a mixture of agony, hatred, and—

"You're loved, Yume."

My breathing quickened.

"I'm sorry, Yume. I'm so bad at conveying it, Yume, but—"

His hands wrapped around my neck. His nails dug deeply into my skin.

"I love you, Yume."

 _I…_

"Let me love you, Yume."

 _This isn't love._

"You're just a girl."

 _This is wrong._

"You're just a _fucking_ girl."

 _This isn't love, because I've experienced love, I've seen it and heard it and felt it and this is not it. Thisisntlovethisisntlovethisisntlove—_

"Show me your love, Yume."

* * *

I woke up with a scream. I threw off my blankets as quickly as I could and patted my hands all over my body in a panicked frenzy in case something was off. I placed my hand over my heart to make sure it was still there. I turned towards the window as quickly as I could. The morning sky reflected against the glass, the sun's rays peeking into my room. Everything seemed normal so far, but it didn't help my rapid, uncontrollable breathing that only got worse when the heavy scent of a storm entered my nose.

When I turned to my room door I saw that it was closed shut. I stumbled clumsily towards it and before I could place my hand on the doorknob I hesitated. Was this just another nightmare? Would I wake up again screaming? Would I wake up at all? _Am I going to die?_

I froze when I heard muffled voices on the other side. I was terrified of opening my door and seeing something— some _one_ — and I wouldn't be able to scream this time. I struggled to keep my hand steady. Slowly, I turned the doorknob and opened the door ever so slightly. I looked carefully through the small crack and swallowed dryly.

For the first time, I was relieved to see my mother. She had a phone up to her ear and spoked in a quiet, hushed tone. I opened the door wider, but I was still afraid that she'd turn around and her eye sockets were gone or she was just a skull or her face would melt away— there were too many things that could wrong and I wasn't willing to take the chance that something wouldn't.

"M… Mom…?" I whispered. I held my breath for what felt like an eternity. She slowly turned around to face me, and she pulled her lips into a thin line. Nothing was wrong. She was just there. I released a deep breath and slowly retreated back into my room, where I fell back against my bed. At this point in my life, very few of my nightmares could bother me to the point where I would wake up screaming. A jolt, perhaps, but to be genuinely scared— that was rare. And that's what made it all the more terrifying.

 _But it wasn't a nightmare._

I inhaled shakily.

 _The only thing worse than a nightmare is a memory._

* * *

"We'll be going to an off campus facility to conduct rescue training."

The smell came before Aizawa-sensei even finished his sentence. Had I not been more conscious of myself and my surroundings, I would've reacted harshly to the scent. I touched my hand to my throat and tried to swallow, but there was a lump behind my tongue. I could barely even breathe as my lungs constricted. The air was heavy with the scent of a storm. I wanted to disappear.

We were told to change into our hero costumes and gather in front of a school where a bus would be waiting for us. As soon as I stepped outside I tilted my head upwards. The sky was clear and blue, with barely any clouds to be seen. There was no sign of rain, and yet, all my senses were telling me otherwise.

I boarded the bus with the expectation of something terrible, tears and heartbreak, I told myself. Maybe— maybe someone would end up getting injured. Maybe Aizawa-sensei would suddenly expel one of us. Maybe a fight would break out between two classmates.

 _Or maybe I'm just losing my mind._

I've been dealing with insomnia for six years now. Nightmares, for nine. Loss, one. Everything in my life that could fall apart has, and I knew the only foundation I had left was my desire to carry on my sister's wishes. I was tired. _Exhausted._ If I fell asleep now I couldn't guarantee I'd wake up, at least, not for another thirty or so years. Maybe the lack of tranquility was getting to me. The nightmares, the loneliness, the mourning, maybe it was all finally collapsing in on me.

"Karada-chan?"

I blinked myself back into reality and turned my head to see Uraraka to my side looking at me. She fluttered her lashes and drew her brows together.

"Are… you okay, Karada-chan?" she asked.

"I—" I nodded. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You're crying!"

 _What?_

I felt my cheeks and they were, in fact, wet with tears. I wiped my eyes as quickly as I could and shook my head. When I looked around— the eyes of my classmates had all settled on me— I shrunk in my seat and prayed that I'd disappear into nothingness.

"I'm fine," I reassured. "Really, I am."

"If there's something wrong, Karada-san—" Momo started.

"Please don't worry about me," I muttered. "I just… need some rest."

"Didn't sleep well last night, Karada?" Kirishima asked from behind me. I turned around to face him.

"Not… really," I said.

"You _do_ look really tired, though!" Uraraka squeaked. "You know, when I can't sleep at night, a warm glass of milk always helps me out!"

I chuckled quietly. "I think I'll try that," I said, the corners of my lips lifting. "Thank you, Uraraka-san."

She beamed brightly at me. "You can call me Ochako!"

"O… Ochako…" _When was the last time someone showed me a smile like that?_ "Then… you can call me Yume."

For just a moment, the smell of bubblegum took over the rain. I couldn't say I disliked it.

* * *

"Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint! Or as I like to call it— USJ!"

This was something Amaya would have been all over. She would have either burst out laughing or jump around excitedly at something that sounded so similar to an amusement park. Either way, Amaya would've loved it, and I felt a sadness brew within me at the fact she wasn't here to enjoy it now. We were introduced to the Space Hero, Thirteen, a hero who specialized in rescue missions, which perfectly complemented his Quirk that allowed him to produce black holes from his fingertips.

The interior was massive and sported several different zones that replicated disasters that would occur in real life. Fires. Floods. Mountain slides. Everything and more. As Thirteen led us further inside, he began to utter a speech about our Quirks. How we must use them to protect society, and learn to control them so we can help people, not harm them. But I began to zone most of it out as the pleasant sweet smell of bubblegum left my nose. The storm returned. My stomach began to twist as though it were turning itself inside out. The feeling I had this morning and the feeling I had now were one and the same.

 _No._

 _I'm just losing myself._

The lights suddenly flickered. My breathing hastened. My heart began to pound in my chest.

 _I'm just overreacting._

"What's going on?" Ochako whimpered. I scratched at my throat. I kept telling myself this was just a coincidence, that nothing was going on or was going to happen, because I knew doubting my own reality was so much easier than accepting that everything awful I was experiencing wasn't just a figment of my imagination. But—

 _This is more than just another nightmare._

My knees suddenly gave out from underneath me. Before I fell to the ground I felt a pair of arms reach out and wrap around my shoulders. I flinched at the touch, and I would've wriggled my way out of the grasp had I not been so deeply consumed by fear and foreboding.

"Karada-san?" Momo called. My vision was blurred, hazy, but I saw strings of red and white. There was warmth on one arm and frost on the other. I couldn't decide if I was cold or not. Todoroki's hands remained firm around my shoulders and he kept them that way as he helped me to my feet. With just the slightest movements of his fingers I reached out and grabbed his wrist and I glanced at him with my weary eyes.

"Don't let go."

The voice escaping my lips didn't even sound like it belonged to me. I was far too deep in this abyss of dread that I could barely piece together what was in front of me. All sounds had melted together. I saw nothing but blobs of indiscernible colors. I felt the conflicting temperatures of hot and cold, and smelt nothing but a deluge that I was drowning in. I didn't understand what was going on. _This has never happened before._

 _"Yume."_

I jerked back suddenly when someone else's voice entered my head. It didn't belong to any of my classmates— it was unlike any voice I had ever heard.

"We have to go," Todoroki said into my ear. I could only groan weakly in response. I couldn't tell what was going on, but I could _feel_ the despair blanketing everyone. I could hear muffled footsteps and worried shouts. My name was occasionally thrown into the mix. Communication. Media. One. _Villains._

My sight focused for just a moment, and in the moment I saw a black mist form in the central plaza, with bodies of all shapes and sizes spilling out, making their way towards us. Villains. They were _here_ , all sneering at us with wicked grins and dark gazes.

"Class representative, please run and get help!" Thirteen shouted. I looked over at Iida, who widened his eyes in shock.

"W-What?" he shook his head. "I-I cannot—"

"You can!" Kirishima retorted. "You have to!"

"Go, Emergency Exit Iida!" Ochako cheered.

"We can't stall any longer. I'll go and hold off the villains for as long as I can—" Aizawa-sensei reached into his scarf and produced a pair of yellow goggles that he placed over his bloodshot eyes. "Thirteen, take the kids and go! Protect yourselves, and protect each other!"

Protect each other.

We had to protect each other.

We were in a crisis. We were in a crisis and we had to do all we could to make it out safely. Alive. I saw the wavering in Iida's steps and the doubt in his eyes. I breathed out.

"Iida-san—" I rasped. Multiple heads turned in my direction. "Let us help you so that you can help us."

"This is what we are training for!" Momo added. "So please, go on, Iida-san!"

Iida choked up, but the determination slowly began to fall onto his face. With a firm nod, he turned on his heel and began running ahead the rest of us.

"Karada, can you walk?" Todoroki asked. I placed the back of my hand against my forehead.

"I think…" I muttered. Slowly, he released his grasp, and though I wobbled on my feet I found that at the very least I could stand. I felt my arm being grabbed and when I turned my head, Midoriya returned my gaze, placing my arm around his neck. Todoroki on my other side did the same.

"Let's hurry, everyone!" Thirteen called. Midoriya and Todoroki helped me lumber ahead. I tried my best to match their pace, but my mind still felt like it was falling apart at the seams and I could barely think straight, let alone walk.

"I'm afraid I cannot let you leave."

I nearly fell over when the purple mist from before appeared from thin air in front of us. Like an ethereal wall it surrounded us all, and directly facing us were two sinister eyes glowing a bright yellow. Just like the light from my memory. I froze.

"Who are you?!" Mina shouted.

"We are known as the League of Villains," the mist returned. "We've come here for one reason and one reason only— to ensure that the Symbol of Peace himself, All Might, takes his final breath here."

Midoriya's muscles contracted. I felt hesitation in his entire being that was far too similar to my own.

"All Might…" he spoke quietly.

"You're pretty fucking bold for a bunch of low life bastards," Bakugo growled, stepping forward. Boldness? No. This was assuredness. Confidence. I saw it in the bright yellow that glared wickedly amongst the endless black.

 _"Don't look now, Yume."_

The voice spoke again. It was sinister and ominous and I felt like someone was directly touching my mind with their tainted hands. I almost gagged.

"I've kept you all long enough," the mist said. "Now, this is where you scatter!"

"Everyone, get away!" Thirteen called. The capsules of his fingertips flipped open. We all moved back as the powerful winds belonging to Thirteen's Quirk began to draw in the mist. The wispy clouds that made up the villain flickered widely like a candle. _Don't look now._

The villain's eyes narrowed and the wall around us thinned out, slowly, carefully. I sucked in a deep breath. He was transporting the attack somewhere—

And that somewhere was directly behind Thirteen.

I lost all feeling in my body at the sight of Thirteen's own attack being used against him. His suit was absorbed and torn apart and I had to bite my lip until it bled to hold back a scream. This was all too familiar. I was reliving the same scene from a year ago. Train horns and raindrops echoed in my ears in a discordant orchestra, brought about by my own ignorance and helplessness.

" _He's gonna die, you know."_

"Die, _fucker!"_ Two bodies moved before anyone else did. Bakugo and Kirishima lunged forward with their own attacks and slammed directly into the villain, creating a massive cloud of dust, courtesy of Bakugo's explosion. My arms nearly slipped from Todoroki and Midoriya's holds, but the gripped my wrists tighter as if they knew as well as I did that I would fall to the ground if they didn't. The smoke stung my eyes and charred my throat. In front of us, Thirteen collapsed to the ground. I had to look away.

"My, my… that was close."

My heart nearly burst.

"I may have underestimated you."

Mina and Ochako rushed to Thirteen's side.

"You are mere children, yet you prove yourselves to be among the elites."

The smoke cleared and the mist was still there. Completely unharmed.

"Now, enough of the games!"

 _No._

 _I won't let anyone else die._

"Di—!"

 _"NO!"  
_  
I launched myself from Todoroki and Midoriya and collapsed to my knees, but rose up immediately after. I clenched my fists; grit my teeth; stare directly, darkly, into the villain's eyes. A raindrop fell.

Then another.

And another.

"What?" the villain mused.

"Rain?" Denki asked. The droplets fell against my hair and pelted my skin. My clothes clung to my body. The sound of thunder rumbled directly above us. Lightning flashed between the gray clouds that only spread out further near the roof of the building, making everything seem much grayer and monochrome. _Protect each other._ I had to, I had to at least help, because—

Because I refused to witness another death.

I curled my fingers and clenched my fist. What emerged in front of me— in front of _us_ — stood tall, a massive figure that towered like a mountain. Its white cloak draped around its nonexistent body, flapping in the breeze of the storm my mind created, revealing a fathomless orange light underneath the cloth. Its head was merely a black circle with no face, but a light shone timidly over it like a halo.

"Iida!" I yelled. He whipped his head towards me. The creature I made lifted its massive arm and brought it down against the villain. _"Go!"  
_  
He didn't delay for a second. Iida rushed past us, faster than I could even process, and raced to the front door, cracking it open just enough for him to get through.

"Enough!" the villain bellowed. The mist emerged from underneath my creation's hand and shot out like tendrils towards us all. "I will kill each and every one of you!"

I fell to a knee as we were engulfed in darkness. I had to hold my arms in front of me to protect against the gale, not caused by the storm but from the villain's mist. We were surrounded in a dome that cut us off from the outside, completely encasing us in shadows. I looked over my shoulder and saw Todoroki. I scrambled towards him and held out my arm, but two orbs of crimson appeared behind him, and my split second of hesitation was all that was needed to whisk me away into nothingness.

With the warmth gone, all that remained was the cold.

* * *

 **a/n**

in which we begin to discover the power of yume's quirk :^) bc she can manifest _anything_ she dreams of hehe

in which we also get an idea of how yume feels about the death of her sister beyond missing her uwu

in which we _also_ get some yume and todoroki interaction hooray

in which i leave with a cliffhanger

i wonder who that voice was hmmm


End file.
